Golden race for Frodeno
Tuesday, 19 August 2008 08:39
The scene was set for an epic battle at the Beijing Olympics as some 40 athletes got off the bike together to set out for the most important half an hour of running in their careers. In what was the best field assembled for an Olympic Games the Australian triathletes Courtney Atkinson and Brad Kahlefeldt found the going tough in what was a brutal Olympic race in hot conditions at Beijing’s Ming Tomb Reservoir.
Atkinson finished 11th and Kahlefeldt in sixteenth, after gradually losing touch with the pace-setters in the opening stages of the run.
Germany’s Jan Frodeno sprung a major upset to out-sprint his more fancied rivals in a thrilling finish and take gold in a time of 1hr 48m 53s. Canadian veteran Simon Whitfield, the Sydney Olympics gold medallist from 2000, won the silver medal and New Zealand’s Bevan Docherty, who was runner-up at the Athens Olympics in 2004, took bronze.
Race favourite, Spain’s Javier Gomez, made up a star-studded pack of four fighting it out for gold with a kilometre to go, but when the sprint started he could not go with his rivals and surprisingly finished out of the medals.
Hot, humid conditions greeted the 55 athletes from 32 countries for the event, comprising a 1500-metre swim, 40km bike ride and 10km run.
The Australian duo of Atkinson and Kahlefeldt finished the opening swim leg in the leading pack and were well placed toward the front of a large peloton that was happy to let three weaker runners set the pace up front. Both Australians emerged from the final transition to start the crucial run leg in the top 10, however, they began to falter after the first of four loops in the final discipline.
Australia dominated yesterday’s women’s triathlon with Emma Snowsill winning gold and Emma Moffatt snaring bronze, adding to the silver medals won in both Sydney (Michellie Jones) and Athens (Loretta Harrop) since triathlon was introduced as an Olympic sport in 2000. The men, however, have found the going tougher and are yet to win a medal in Olympic competition.
Beijing 2008 Olympic Games – Men’s Triathlon
Gold – Jan Frodeno (GER)
Silver – Simon Whitfield (CAN)
Bronze – Bevan Docherty (NZ)
4th – Javier Gomez (ESP)
5th – Ivan Rana (ESP)
6th – Daniel Unger (GER)
7th – Hunter Kemper (USA)
8th – Rasmus Henning (DEN)
9th – Igor Sysoev (RUS)
10th – Frederic Belaubre (FRA)
11th- Courtney Atkinson (AUS)
16th – Brad Kahlefeldt (AUS)
